Almost Lover
by dustflare
Summary: Gale/Katniss songfic. Takes place after Mockingjay but before the epilogue up until the end.


_Your fingertips across my skin_

_The palm trees swaying in the wind  
><em>_Images…_

I shiver. Gale wraps his arms around my and rocks me back and forth as the sobs wrack my body. He rubs my legs in attempt to comfort me and keep me warm. Tears spill from my eyes and splash onto his new forest green hunting jacket.

Around us, the wind stirs the bare branches, and a thickening layer of snow has settled on the ground.

Gale's fingers pull through my hair, which is damp from the falling snowflakes. Unexpectedly, he reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a bag of blackberries. He unzips the bag and slips one of the dark, tart berries into my mouth.

The scene sparks a memory from almost two years ago, before I entered the Hunger Games. It's of Gale and me, of course, with the two of us sitting out in the forest eating blackberries. "And may the odds-" said Gale, tossing a blackberry into my mouth. I finished Effie Trinket's line with a high-pitched "-be _ever_ in your favor."

_You sang me Spanish lullabies  
><em>_The sweetest sadness in your eyes  
><em>_Clever trick_

Gale hums the tune to a song my father taught me, called "The Hanging Tree." After two or three lines, I catch on with a shaky voice. The entire forest is silent as the words slip from my lips.

I sigh, and Gale pulls me closer to him. I gaze into his smoky gray Seam eyes, and he returns the gaze. Unspoken words pass between us. He knows he broke me, slit open my heart and let me suffer.

_I'd never want to see you unhappy  
><em>_I thought you'd want the same for me_

He rises to his feet, leaving me on the ground with my arms wrapped around my legs, shaking in the cold of a dead winter night. Then, silently, he turns and walks away, not looking back. Even as I weep harder and longer than I ever have, he doesn't come back.

_Goodbye my almost lover_  
><em>Goodbye my hopeless dream<em>  
><em>I'm trying not to think about you<em>  
><em>Can't you just let me be<em>

I'm practically wailing, crying out to him, begging him to come back. With Peeta in the hospital, my mother in some other district, and Prim dead, I have no one left to love me. Vick, Rory, and Hazelle are with my mother. Finnick is dead. Annie and Johanna… I don't know where they are. Delly and Madge are long gone, too.

At some point, I fall asleep. I dream of everyone I've lost: Prim, Peeta, Finnick, Johanna, Annie, my mother and father, Haymitch… so many people I've loved and let down. Too many. And now, Gale is gone, too.

At this moment, I miss Gale more than anyone else. We depended on each other; we did everything together; he's saved my life over and over.

_So long my luckless romance_  
><em>My back is turned on you<em>

When I wake up the next morning, I'm still alone. I head back to my house, start a fire in the fireplace, and sit in my rocking chair. I stroke Evergreen, a stray kitten that found its way into my house a few months ago.

Watching the flames crackle in the fireplace seems to remind me of something. It takes a few hours to realize it, but then I realize that this fire reminds me of myself. When I was the Mockingjay. When I walked, flaming, onto the stage before the 74th Hunger Games. This fire represents me.

The hospital is just own the street. I throw on a hat and some shoes and take off. I find myself standing in front of Peeta a few minutes later.

For a moment, the two of us just stand there. Then, I sniffle, and Peeta hugs me and kisses me like we were never apart. We were meant to be together. The life I could have had with Gale would never measure up with the one I'll have with Peeta.

_Should have known you'd bring me heartache_  
><em>Almost lovers always do<em>

Even though I still haven't quite gotten over Prim and Gale's absence, I have Peeta and my two kids, a son and a daughter. My daughter, Rose, who is now ten, already knows of my connection to the Hunger Games. Though the Games have been abolished for at least a decade, schools still teach about them in every district.

However, my son, Night, is only five. He doesn't know he's playing in a graveyard, doesn't understand why I wake up, screaming, so late ate night.

Suddenly, I hear Rose let out a shriek of surprise. Somehow, she's discovered an old wooden box by a sturdy oak tree that's been around all my life. As she lifts the lid, I sigh. Because I know what's inside the box, and so does Peeta.

Inside is a photo of my mother, father, and Prim that was taken so many years ago. Prim's blue ribbon, carefully tied by Finnick, lies on top of the photo, along with letters from Haymitch and Mother. Most importantly is what has been covered up by the other objects: three videotapes. Videos of me, Gale, Prim, Peeta, and other close friends.

A chilly breeze as sharp as the one I felt on the last night I saw Gale tugs my hair. Peeta wraps me in his arms, just like Gale did, and I cry into his shirt. And Peeta knows why.

My heart aches as I cry for Prim and my father, for Finnick and Annie, even for Haymitch. But I also cry for Gale; because once you love someone, you can never stop loving them, even if all that's left is a tiny spark. Even if that person is long gone.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I absolutely love that song :) It sort of just popped into my head one day and I kept thinking about it. Then I was thinking about _The Hunger Games,_ and it hit me: it was the _perfect_ song for Gale and Katniss! I just about died when I thought of that, because it was just so perfect. It really sums up their relationship in my opinion.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the song or the book! The song belongs to A Fine Frenzy, and the book belongs to Suzanne Collins. This was for entertainment purposes only.**


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